Still the Same
by eiahmon
Summary: The night after the party recovers the Falcon from Daryl's Tomb, Celes and Setzer have a talk.


**Disclaimer: Belong to Square (well Square-Enix now), not me. :(**

**A/N:** **It's been sixteen years since the release of Final Fantasy VI, and it occurred to me that I had no fanfics up about it, even though it's my favorite Final Fantasy. Here is my attempt at rectifying the problem. Since Setzer is my favorite Final Fantasy character, I just had to use him. XD **

"You loved her."

It was a simple statement, not a question, and it made Setzer look over his shoulder at the blond haired general that was standing behind him. He looked at her for a brief before he returned to gazing out at the bloodied ocean that was spread out before them.

"And if I did?"

He heard her footsteps approach where he was sitting on The Falcon's rail, looking out over the ocean and the low setting sun that was staining the sky the color of fire.

"Nothing," she said "but it explains why you try to distance yourself from us."

He turned his head to his left, where she was standing at the rail beside him, looking out over the water, the red light shining on her face.

"Distance myself?" he scoffed "Please."

She looked at him then. "You do. Deny it all you want, but I can see under that mask of indifference you try and maintain.

"And what, pray tell, do you see, General Celes?"

She huffed at being referred to as a general; he knew it irritated her. "I see a lonely man, who was once hurt so badly by the loss of someone he loved that he decided that he would never allow such a thing to happen again. I see a man who distanced himself from other humans so to ensure that he never falls in love again. Lastly I see a man who finds himself infatuated with someone and is so afraid of it that he was willing to let the world rot and die rather than face it."

He looked away form her with a most ungraceful snort. "My dear General, where do you come up with such things? Infatuation? Truly you do not believe that I would allow myself to fall victim to such a thing. Why I-"

She cut him off. "Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. You simply can't feel such things because you are a gambler, and such trivial things as emotions are useless in your chosen profession. I've heard it multiple times, so stow it, but what I have heard, and what I have seen are two very different things."

He admitted that she had him a little curious. "Oh?" he queried, raising one scarred eyebrow.

She looked away from him and idly conjured up a small ice crystal, which floated lazily just above her upraised palm. The ice glowed with its own inner light, and it played across her face as he looked at it. "Don't think that I wasn't told that you asked about me after the fracas in Vector. I have also noticed that you have a hard time keeping your eyes off of Terra whenever you two are in the same room together. I also couldn't help but notice how happy you were to see me in Kohlingen that day either."

"Is a man not allowed to admire a beautiful woman?"

"Admiring is one thing, Setzer. Blatant staring is an entirely different matter."

"Fine. I shall refrain from… staring at you in the future."

"And Terra?" Celes dropped her hand and looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes. "Don't you dare do anything to upset her Setzer. That poor girl has had enough difficulty in her life without you adding to it."

He matched her angry gaze with one of his own. "I am touched by your faith in me, General Celes, and your assumption that I would do anything to deliberately hurt dear Terra."

"I notice that didn't say anything about existentially hurting her."

"Unintended actions can be difficult to avoid, my dear General."

"Well then I suppose that you should just make sure anything that may lead to such consequences never happens then."

"And what gives you the right to tell me what I can or cannot do, General Celes? Any authority that you may have had ended when Kefka pushed Gestahl off the Floating Continent. Oh, no wait, it ended when you betrayed your masters and ended up chained to a cell wall in South Figaro. Furthermore, need I remind you that you are on MY airship?"

"Daryl's airship."

"That was willed to me after her death."

"And yet you are willing to disturb it. Do you miss your wings that badly?"

Setzer's face darkened in sudden anger, and for a second, Celes wondered if she had pushed him too far."

"I drowned myself in the bottle for a year, General Celes, knowing the entire time that this airship was down here, ready for the taking! All I had to do was walk in and take it, but did I? No, never! I would never disturb her for such a trivial thing as wanting to fly again, even though I only feel free, feel alive when I am in the air! So don't you dare say that I am disturbing the sanctity of Daryl's grave for the mere desire to fly again! If you hadn't shown up, I would have rotted away in that god accursed little hamlet, while this airship stayed here until time turned it to dust!"

He abruptly turned away, from her, turned and hopped off the rail. A simple float spell allowed him to drift easily down to the ground below, and he walked briskly away from her, to where the red waves crashed against the dead, rocky shore. Nightfall was rapidly approaching, and the area monsters would easily destroy him if he stayed by himself. Though he had used the magicite the same as all of them, he was not particularly powerful.

Celes tried to convince herself that it was for those reasons that she jumped off the deck and followed him.

He was standing right on the edge of the water, where the leading edges of the waves slopped onto the toes of his boots, facing the rapidly disappearing sun as it sank below the horizon. Above and behind them, stars were becoming visible, though their light was dim, as though they grieved for the dying world on which they stood.

"I apologize." she said once she had caught up to him "That was out of line."

He didn't look at her, he instead kept his gaze on the sliver of red that was all that remained of the sun. "Have you ever loved someone?" He interrupted her before she could open her mouth. "And I don't mean the kind where you court for a week or two, go out to dinner a few times and then end it because someone else catches your eye. I mean the kind where your entire universe revolves around a single person. Where you would do anything for them and know that they would do the same for you. When you love someone that deeply, it feels as though a part of you has died once they are gone, and no one and nothing can fill the void that remains." He looked at her, and the look in his eyes was considerably softer than it had been a moment before. "Pain like that never goes away, General Celes, and once you have felt it, you will do anything to avoid it again. So yes, I loved her, and her death nearly destroyed me. I will not allow such a thing to happen again."

"Even it means that you could be happy again?"

He laughed bitterly. "Happy? Come now, General Celes, happiness will never be within my reach again! My capacity to love died with Daryl, and I have no interest in trying to find another, simply because I know that no one, not you, not Terra, not even dear Maria, will ever be the woman that Daryl was." He looked away from her, back at where the sun had been, but now there was only a faint glow at the horizon that was rapidly disappearing. A hot breeze stirred his hair, blowing it back from his scarred forehead.

"There will never be another like her," he said quietly "so why should I bother myself looking?"

"You can't lock yourself away like that Setzer. Treasure Daryl, yes, love her for the rest of your life, but don't let your memories of her stop you from finding another. I'm sure that she wouldn't have wanted you to do this to yourself."

He gave her a sad smile that was just a little condescending. "And who would I find, General Celes? A ritzy woman who only wants me for my money? A poor girl from the slums who will always wonder if I'm simply using her? How about a woman that will keep me around only as long as I buy her expensive gifts and take her to all the parties?" He smiled again, and this time, the smile was truly sad. "You, of course, have your heart set on Locke, and Terra, in all seriousness, is too young and naive. I'd feel as though I was taking advantage of her. I fancy myself a ladies man, General Celes, but there are lines that I will not cross, and trying to woo Terra would cross all of them."

"Even if she were interested?"

He looked at her with an upraised eyebrow again. "You are full of inconstancies, my dear General. First you warn me to stay away from Terra, yet now it seems as if you are encouraging me to seek her out."

Celes felt her face grow hot. "I am not! I'm simply curious about what you would do."

"Right now? I would do nothing but tell her that now is not a good time. When this war is over, then maybe I would accept advances from her."

"Why do you set yourself apart like this, Setzer?"

"Haven't we been through this once before already, General Celes?"

"Why do you insist on calling me that? Do you enjoy annoying me?"

"It is in my nature, my dear lady."

"Sometimes it seems as though you're trying to provoke me."

"I do enjoy a good risk."

"You're insufferable."

He smiled at her then, a true smile this time, before he turned and began to walk back towards the airship.

"The night grows old, General Celes," he called back to her as he walked "and soon a new day will be born! There will be friends to find and a madman to defeat, and time waits for no one!" She heard him chuckle to himself, and she shook her head with a smile and followed him.


End file.
